529 Savings Plans

I just finished signing Andrew up for a 529 savings plan. For those of you who don't know, 529 plans are a great way to save for college. They invest in stocks, bonds, etc, just like normal mutual funds, but the money has to be used for college. The funds have to be sponsored by a state, so each state has a fund. My financial advisor, Clark Howard, has some great tips about 529 plans, including his "Dean's List" and "Honor Roll List" of states with the best plans. One piece of advice that I don't listen to, even though I agree with is

"But first remember my rule that you don't save a penny for college unless you are already saving the maximum you can for your own retirement. College can be paid for with grants, loans, scholarships and work. Retirement happens only if you have saved the dough."

I don't think the whole "saving the maximum" thing will happen until Jordan is about 33, a little too late to start saving for college. I guess I'll just have to work a few more years, but I like working so no big deal. When I enrolled Jordan, I picked the Missouri state plan because it was on his Honor Roll list ( I don't think he had a Dean's List 4 years ago) and you could sign up for the plan online. This time around I wanted to chose one of his Dean's List plans so I went with the New York plan. The plan is managed by Vangaurd and you can sign up online.

Both the Missouri and New York plans let you invest in "age based" options, meaning the plans become less aggressive as the beneficiary gets older. This is exactly what I want plus it requires zero maintenance on my end, a big-time bonus because I hardly have time to pay attention to it.
I looked into the Virginia 529 plan too (my home state), but their so-called website looks like something a 2 year old put together with Microsoft Frontpage '98.